On Sunday October 19th just past 9:30 a.m. the Louve had just opened and within minutes a gang arrived with a truck-mounted basket lift pulled up beside the museum’s south facing wall. The thieves were inside for four minutes and escaped at 9:38 after trying to set the van they entered on fire. They escaped with two scooters waiting outside the building while alarms rang.
Four individuals dressed as maintenance workers entered from a second story balcony close to the river seine in a van with a mechanical life and forced open a window leading into the Apollo Gallery. Two thieves entered through the window by cutting it with power tools. The four men threatened the guards and cut through the glass of two display cases with jewels inside.
The thieves stole eight pieces of Napoleonic jewelry. One of which was a gold crown and diamond- encrusted broaches worn by French royalty. Next, one of Napoleon’s III Brooch was stolen that contained 2,438 diamonds. These pieces of jewelry are 100rds years old and worth 100rds of millions of dollars. The crown stolen was recovered but already broken when found at the scene.
France is trying endlessly to find the four thieves. Culture Minister Rachida Dati described the robbery as “A national humiliation.” To find the jewelry it is a race against time as the stolen jewels may be broken or melted down if not found quickly. Following the robbery, the Louver remained closed for two days in order to help alleviate the angry Parisians wondering how this could happen.
There are 60 investigators working on the care. They have a theory that the robbers were under orders for a criminal organization. Investigations still continue causing the Louvre to remain closed and the theme fully refunded people who already purchased tickets.
